(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to sonar sensor arrays and more particularly, to a sonar sensor array that has reduced power consumption, bandwidth and data storage requirements.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Acoustic sonar sensors are used for many purposes and in a variety of environments. For example, acoustic sonar sensors are used on surface ships and also in underwater applications such as line arrays, submarines and unmanned undersea vehicles. Such acoustic sensors are used to detect ships, marine life, marine geology, and other underwater sound sources.
The acoustic sonar sensors are typically fixed in either a linear arrangement or in a structure that conforms to a hull of a host vehicle. Current acoustic and other type sonar sensors require a fixed amount of power to operate with the result of a fixed measurement data rate for a given application. In some applications, the measured signal of interest is present for relatively short periods of time followed by relatively long periods of time in which there is no signal of interest.
Sonar sensor arrays that are configured to continuously acquire and record sensor data consume significant amounts of electrical power and utilize large amounts of available memory. In such sonar sensor arrays, all of the sensors are constantly powered since signal monitoring continuously occurs. Therefore, such sensor arrays can be very inefficient with the result of limited operating time for battery-powered systems wherein a finite amount of electrical energy is available for a given mission. Furthermore, these existing prior art sonar sensor arrays are constricted by a data playback bottleneck such that only a limited amount of playback bandwidth is available for the specific application or mission.
What is therefore needed is a sonar sensor array that addresses the problems of the aforementioned prior art sonar sensor arrays and utilizes significantly less power, bandwidth and data storage.